The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido Part 21

"A charter for the administration of justice should be as nearly as possible contemporaneous with the cession. Great inconvenience has resulted in all our Eastern settlements of the same nature with that speculated on at Labuan, from the want of all legal provision for the administration of justice; and remembering this, it ought to be guarded against in the case of Labuan.

"Whether in preparing for the establishment of a British settlement on the coast of Borneo, or in actually making one, her majesty's ministers, I am satisfied, will advert to the merits and peculiar qualifications of Mr. Brooke. That gentleman is unknown to me, except by his acts and writings; but, judging by these, I consider him as possessing all the qualities which have distinguished the successful founders of new colonies; intrepidity, firmness, and enthusiasm, with the art of governing and leading the ma.s.ses. He possesses some, moreover, which have not always belonged to such men, however otherwise distinguished; a knowledge of the language, manners, customs, and inst.i.tutions of the natives by whom the colony is to be surrounded; with benevolence and an independent fortune, things still more unusual with the projectors of colonies. Toward the formation of a new colony, indeed, the available services of such a man, presuming they are available, may be considered a piece of good fortune."

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.

[First Edition.]

The recent proceedings of Government in following up the impression made upon Malay piracy, as related in these pages; the appointment of Mr. Brooke as British Agent in Borneo, armed with the moral and physical power of his country; the cession of the island of Labuan to the British crown; and the great advance already made by the English ruler of Sarawak, in laying broad foundations for native prosperity, while extending general security and commerce; all combine to add an interest to the early individual steps which have led to measures of so much national consequence.

Deeply as I felt the influence of that individual on the condition of Borneo, and the Malayan Archipelago generally, while employed there, and much as I antic.i.p.ated from his energetic character, extraordinary exertions, and enlarged views for the future, I confess that my expectations have been greatly increased by the progress of events since that period. It needed nothing to confirm my faith in the results that were sure to follow from his enlightened acts--from his prudence and humanity in the treatment of his Dyak subjects, and the neighboring and interior independent tribes--from his firm resistance to the Malay tyranny exercised upon the aborigines, and his punishment of Malay aggression, wherever perpetrated. But when I see these elements of good wisely seconded by the highest authorities of England, I cannot but look for the consummation of every benefit desired, much more rapidly and effectively than if left to the efforts of a private person, even though that person were a Brooke! If the appearance of H.M.S. Dido on the coast and at Sarawak produced a salutary effect upon all our relations with the inhabitants, it may well be presumed that the mission of Captain Bethune, and the expedition under Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, must have greatly improved and extended that wholesome state of affairs. Indeed, it is evident, by the complete success which attended Mr. Brooke's official visit to Borneo Proper in H.M.S. Driver, after receiving dispatches from Lord Aberdeen appointing him British agent in the island, carried out by Captain Bethune in November, 1844, that the presence of a British force in those seas was alone necessary to enable him to suppress piracy, and perfect his plans for the establishment of a native government which should not oppress the country, and which should cultivate the most friendly intercourse with us. Thus we find the piratical Pangeran Usop put down, and Muda Ha.s.sim exercising the sovereign power in the name of his imbecile nephew, who still retains the t.i.tle of sultan. The princ.i.p.al chiefs, and men distinguished by talent and some acquaintance with foreign affairs, are now on our side; and it only requires to support them in order that civilization may rapidly spread over the land, and Borneo become again, as it was one or two centuries ago, the abode of an industrious, rich, pacific, and mercantile people, interchanging products with all the trading nations of the world, and conferring and reaping those blessings which follow in the train of just and honorable trade wheresoever its enterprising spirit leads in the pursuit of honest gain. As the vain search for the philosopher's stone conducted to many a useful and valuable discovery, so may we be a.s.sured that the real seeking for gold through the profitable medium of commerce has been, is, and will be the grand source of filling the earth with comfort and happiness.

Among the numerous visions of this kind which open to our sense while reflecting on the new prospects of this vast island--so little known, yet known to possess almost unbounded means to invite and return commercial activity--is the contemplation of the field it presents to missionary labors. When we read Mr. Brooke's description of the aboriginal Dyak, and observe what he has himself done in one locality within the s.p.a.ce of four or five short years, what may we not expect to be accomplished by the zeal of Christian missions judiciously directed to reclaim such a people from utter barbarism, and induce them to become true members of a faith which teaches forbearance and charity between man and man, and inculcates, with the love and hope of heaven, an abhorrence of despotism and blood, and a disposition to live in good-will and peace with all our fellow-creatures? There are here no prejudices of caste, as in India, to impede the missionaries'

progress. Mr. Brooke has pointed out what may be effected in this way, and we have only to say amen to his prayer, with an earnest aspiration that it may be speedily fulfilled.

Having enjoyed the pleasure of communicating to the public this satisfactory description of the _status quo_ in Borneo to the latest period (September, 1845), I venture to congratulate them upon it. Thus far all is well and as it should be, and promising the happiest issue; but I hope I may not be charged with presumption in offering an opinion from my experience in this quarter, and respectfully suggesting that, in addition to a permanent British settlement at Labuan, it will be absolutely necessary to proceed with the suppression of Malay piracy, by steadily acting against every pirate-hold. Without a continued and determined series of operations of this sort, it is my conviction that even the most sanguinary and fatal onslaughts will achieve nothing beyond a present and temporary good. The impression on the native mind is not sufficiently lasting: their old impulses and habits return with fresh force; they forget their heavy retribution; and in two or three years the memory of them is almost entirely effaced. Till piracy be completely suppressed there must be no relaxation; and well worth the perseverance is the end in view, the welfare of one of the richest and most improvable portions of the globe, and the incalculable extension of the blessings of Britain's prosperous commerce and humanizing dominion.

In looking forward to the certain realization of these prospects, I may mention the important circ.u.mstance of the discovery of coal in abundance for the purposes of steam navigation. The surveys already made afford a.s.surances of this fact, and the requisite arrangements are in progress for opening and working the mines. It is generally known that the Dutch a.s.sert very wide pretensions to colonies and monopolies in those seas. A treaty has been concluded between the Netherlands government and England; and although that important doc.u.ment contains no reference whatever to Borneo, it is most desirable for the general extension of commerce that no national jealousies, no ideas of conflicting interests, no encroaching and ambitious projects, may be allowed to interfere with or prevent the beneficial progress of this important region. With such a man as Mr. Brooke to advise the course most becoming, disinterested, and humane for the British empire to pursue, it is not too much to say that, if the well-being of these races of our fellow-creatures is defeated or postponed, the crime will not lie at our door. The sacrifices we have made to extinguish slavery throughout the world are a sure and unquestionable pledge that we will do our utmost to extirpate the horrid traffic in those parts, and to uproot the system of piracy that feeds it. It is the bounden duty of both Holland and Great Britain to unite cordially in this righteous cause. The cry of nature is addressed to them; and if rejected, as surely as there is justice and mercy in the Providence which overrules the fate of nations, no blessing will prosper them, but wealth, and dominion, and happiness will pa.s.s away from them forever. Mr. Brooke invokes their cooperation, and his n.o.ble appeal cannot be withstood.

The central position of Labuan is truly remarkable. That island is distant from

Hong Kong 1009 miles.

Singapore 707 "

Siam 984 "

Manilla 650 "

On the other hand, Mr. Brooke's territory of Sarawak is distant from

Singapore 427 miles.

Labuan 304 "

Hong Kong 1199 "

How direct and central are these valuable possessions for the universal trade of the East!

POSTSCRIPT TO THE SECOND EDITION.

June 6th, 1846.

In the foregoing remarks with which I closed the first edition of this book, I ventured to congratulate the public on the cheerful aspect of affairs in Borneo at the latest period of which accounts had then reached me. I could then say, with a joyful heart, "Thus far all is well and as it should be, and promising the happiest issue." But now I must write in a different strain. The mischiefs I pointed out above as likely to ensue from a desultory and intermittent mode of dealing with Malay piracy have revealed themselves even sooner and in a more formidable manner than I had antic.i.p.ated. The weak and covetous sultan of Borneo has, with more than the usual fickleness of Asiatics, already forgotten the lessons we gave him and the engagements he solemnly and voluntarily contracted with us. Mr. Brooke's faithful friends, Muda Ha.s.sim and the Pangeran Budrudeen, with numbers of their families and retainers, have been basely murdered by their treacherous kinsman, because of their attachment to the English and their unswerving determination to put down piracy; and what is worst of all, Mr. Brooke's arch-enemy, the subtle and indefatigable villain Macota, the man whose accursed head was thrice saved by my too-generous friend, has now returned triumphantly to the scene of his former crimes, and is commissioned by the sultan to take Mr. Brooke's life by poison, or by any other of those treacherous arts in which there is no more consummate adept than Macota. I could trust securely to Mr. Brooke's gallantry and skill for the protection of his life against the attacks of open foes; and my only fears arise when I reflect on his utter insensibility to danger, and think how the admirable qualities of his own guileless, confiding nature may facilitate the designs of his enemies.

H.M.S. Hazard, from Hong Kong, having touched at Bruni about the end of March last, was boarded by a native, who gave the captain such information as induced him to sail with all speed for Sarawak; and there this man made the following deposition:--

j.a.pper, a native of Bruni, deposes that he was sent aboard H.M.S. Hazard by the Pangeran Muda Mahomed, to warn the captain against treachery, and to communicate the following details to Mr. Brooke at Sarawak.

The Rajah Muda Ha.s.sim was raised by the sultan to the t.i.tle of Sultan Muda (or young sultan), and, together with his brothers and followers, was living in security, when he was attacked by orders of the sultan at night, and together with thirteen of his family, killed in different places. Four brothers, viz. Pangeran Muda Mahomed, Pangeran Abdul Kader, Pangeran Abdulraman, and Pangeran Mesahat, together with several young children of the Rajah Muda Ha.s.sim, alone survive. The deponent j.a.pper was in attendance on his lord, the Pangeran Budrudeen, at the time of the attack. The Pangeran, though surprised by his enemies, fought for some time, and when desperately wounded, retired outside his house with his sister and another woman named Koor Salem. The deponent was there and was wounded, as were both the women. The Pangeran Budrudeen ordered deponent to open a keg or cask of gunpowder, which he did; and the last thing his lord did was to take his ring from his finger and desire the deponent to carry it to Mr. Brooke; to bid Mr. Brooke not to forget him, and not to forget to lay his case before the Queen of England. The deponent then quitted his lord, who was with the two women, and immediately after his lord fired the powder, and the three were blown up. The deponent escaped with difficulty; and a few days afterward, the ring intrusted to his charge, was taken from him by the sultan. The sultan, and those with him, killed the Rajah Muda Ha.s.sim and his family, because he was the friend of the English and wanted to suppress piracy. The sultan has now built forts and defied the English. He talked openly of cutting out any vessel that arrived; and two Pangerans went down, bearing the flag of the Rajah Muda Ha.s.sim, to look at the vessel, and to kill the captain if they could get him ash.o.r.e. The deponent had great difficulty in getting to the s.h.i.+p; and should his flight be discovered, he considers the lives of the surviving portion of the Rajah Muda Ha.s.sim's family will be in danger. The deponent did what he was ordered, and what his late lord, the Pangeran Budrudeen, desired him to do. The sultan had a man ready to send, named Nakoda Kolala, to Kaluka, to request that Pangeran Macota would kill Mr. Brooke by treachery or poison.

(_Signed_) J. Brooke.

Having put Mr. Brooke on his guard, the Hazard proceeded to Singapore, whence the H.E.I.C. war-steamer Phlegethon would be immediately dispatched to Sarawak.

H h

Suggestions for Accelerating the Communication Between Great Britain and China.

------------------------+-----------------+---------+-------+---------+---------+---------+------------------- | | |Average|Interval |Interval | | | | | Rate | under | at | Total | Proposed Route from | | | per | Weigh. | Anchor. |Interval.| Hong Kong to London, | |Distance,| Hour, |----+----+----+----+----+----| and vice versa. | Course. | Miles. | Miles.| D | h | D | h | D | h | Duties at Anchor.

------------------------+-----------------+---------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+--- +---------------- Hong Kong to Pulo Labuan| S. 218'E. | 1009 | 7 | 6 | -- | 1 | 12 | 7 | 12 |To receive Coal.[A]

Pulo Labuan to Singapore| S. 69 23 W. | 707 | -- | 4 | 6 | -- | 12 | 4 | 18 |{To receive Coal, land and | | | | | | | | | |{receive Mails.

Singapore to Malacca |{S. 64 48 W. 19} | 122 | -- | -- | 18 | -- | 6 | 1 | -- |To land and receive Mails.

|{N. 51 41 W. 103}| | | | | | | | | Malacca to Pinang | N. 30 37 W. | 222 | -- | 1 | 8 | -- | 16 | 2 | -- |(To receive Coal, land and | | | | | | | | | | receive Mails.

Pinang to Ceylon [B] |{N. 82 24 W. 303}| 1219 | -- | 7 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 18 | Ditto Ditto |{S. 80 45 W. 916)| | -- | | | | | | | |-----------------+---------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+------------------- Ceylon to Aden {|As now performed by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam }| 11 | -- | {| Navigation Co., detention of 2 days included }| | | Aden to Suez | Ditto Ditto | 8 | -- | Suez to Alexandria | Ditto all stoppages included| 3 | -- | Alexandria to Malta | Ditto Ditto | 4 | -- | Malta to Ma.r.s.eilles |As now performed by H.M. Post-Office Packets, ditto | 4 | -- | Ma.r.s.eilles to London | Ditto by regular course of Post ditto | 5 | -- | |----+----| Total Interval from Hong Kong to London, and vice versa, by the proposed | | | Route. Days | 59 | -- | Average interval of transmission of China Correspondance, via Calcutta and }| | | Bombay, during the last Twenty Overland Mails, viz. from 10th October, 1841, }| | | to 6th May, 1843 }| 89 | -- | |----+----| Difference of time in favor of proposed Route Days | 30 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----+----+-------------------

KEY: D - Days.

h - Hours.

Mem.--I have adopted an average rate of seven miles per hour as a fair estimate of the speed well-appointed Steam Vessels, of moderate size and power, will be enabled to accomplish and maintain, throughout the proposed Route, at all seasons of the year; for, during the whole distance from Pinang to Aden, and _vice versa_, neither monsoon, from the course steered, becomes at any period a directly adverse wind, an advantage which the route hitherto observed does not possess. a.s.suming that the Hon. East India Company continue the management of the Bombay line, and that the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company are encouraged to render their operations more comprehensive, by the establishment of branch steamers between Ceylon and Singapore, to which latter port her majesty's steam vessels on the China station could convey the mails from Hong Kong, this all-important object might, without difficulty, be attained. The advantages to the Straits settlements, consequent on the adoption of improved arrangements, require no comment; and the _practicability_ of effecting a very considerable acceleration of the communication with China is evident from the simple fact that the average interval which has occurred in the transmission of letters from China, by the last twenty Overland Mails (irrespective of the unfortunate July mail from Bombay), exceeds the period occasionally occupied by fast-sailing s.h.i.+ps, in accomplis.h.i.+ng the voyage via the Cape of Good Hope.